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Some of the links below are affiliate links, which means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase. Regardless, I only link to products we use on our homestead or believe in.
I’ve been converting processed foods with healthy traditional replacements in my kitchen for the past few years. I firmly believe in cooking and making things ourselves, instead of being spoon fed unhealthy chemical laden products by companies that only care about turning a profit.
It can be daunting and my best advice is to start with one item at a time. Begin with the items that you ingest the most of on a daily basis. For me, that was bread. It’s been over a year since I’ve purchased bread from the store using the less than 5 minutes a day method and only 5 traditional ingredients
Today I want to show you how to make cream of soup substitutions in your favorite casseroles and recipes. We’ll be making a basic sauce. For the cream of chicken soups, I make a basic white sauce with a twist.
First start with a cast iron skillet, or a large skillet of your choice, but beings we’re being healthy, no Teflon coated pans.
Pioneering Today-Basic White Sauce Recipe
1/4 cup (or 1/3 cup) of butter (dairy free options include lard or coconut oil)
1/3 cup flour (gluten free option is organic corn starch or arrowroot powder *affiliate link)
1 to 2 cups milk (dairy free option is chicken broth or stock)
salt to taste
Melt the butter in your pan over medium low heat. Stir in the flour until it makes a thick paste and is combined.
Add your liquid slowly, working it until the paste is absorbed. Continue to add liquid until the sauce has reached the desired thickness, stirring continually. It will thicken as it simmers. Use in place of cream soups in your favorite casseroles and recipes. Or serve it over top of hard-boiled eggs and toast.
The Twist-Depending on your recipe, try switching out the liquid. Instead of milk, use chicken stock and a dash of white wine. The alcohol content cooks out. If you desire a rich sauce, use real cream.
Some of you may be worrying about your health using real butter and cream. I’m the first to say that using real butter is healthy! Read this article for info on the truth behind the butter is bad myth.
I personally always believe using real ingredients in a balanced diet is the healthiest way to live. I only serve myself and my family real butter and real milk (provided you don’t have a dairy allergy).
What’s your favorite processed replacement recipe? How are you doing on swapping out real for fake food items?
Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.
